MyWiki:WikiProject Christian music/Sources

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This page is intended to help in sourcing Christian Music articles on Wikipedia. It serves to inform users on questions about a source's credibility, and provide suggestions as a starting point for research. The following list consists of recommended sources for expanding Christian music articles about albums, songs, and artist pages that primarily or exclusively cover Christian music topics. This list is a supplement to Wikipedia:WikiProject Albums/Sources, as most Christian artists do not receive consistent coverage in publications that are not geared specifically to a Christian audience. In addition, the list also includes book sources that contain information on Christian artists, even if that is not that book's primary focus. This list is merely a collection of suggestions, and other good sources may exist, so please help to expand this list. Questionable sources or proposals for additional sources may be discussed on the talk page. CMNexus.org is a useful resource for finding issue numbers and article titles for many of the online and print resources found here.

Note that site-operators and publishers, by nature of their role, are presumed to not be subject to the usual editorial process and thus are regarded as self-published sources. They are still reliable as experts in their field but should not be used for controversial statements and cannot be used for any claims about living people other than themselves. When citing an article or other published work, check if the author is the site operator or publisher.

Online and print

Publication	Genre(s)	Rating system	Country	Website	Archives and back issues	Editors/Operators	Reliability Discussion(s)
CCM Magazine	CCM, hip hop, metal, rock	Older Grades B+/-, Now five star	US	ccmmagazine.com	Many archives from 2000 to 2008 can be found at http://ht.salemweb.net/ccm/ccmmagazine/pdf/200709.pdf, with the date in the url modified to the desired year and month. These now require the Internet Archive to find; plug the url to be searched into the WayBack Machine. Many of the magazine issues are also available for purchase here.		2013
Charisma	CCM, gospel, worship, rock	Unrated	US	charismamag.com	Back issues
Christianity Today	All	Five stars	US	christianitytoday.com	Ratings for older albums can be found by using the Wayback Machine.
Cross Rhythms	All	Ten squares	UK	crossrhythms.co.uk	Articles prior to 2005 usually correspond to the now defunct magazine.
HM and Heaven's Metal	CCM, rock, metal, hip-hop	Five stars	US	hmmagazine.com	Many HM back issues can be found here: [1]; Many Heaven's Metal back issues can be found here: [2]	HM founder and former owner and editor; founder and operator of Heaven's Metal: Doug Van Pelt HM Owner and editor: David Stagg	2018, 2024
Singing News	Southern Gospel	No rating	US	singingnews.com	Back issues available for purchase
Worship Leader	CCM, praise & worship, rock	Five stars	US	worshipleader.com			2013
Worship Musician	CCM, praise & worship	No rating	US	www.worshipmusician.com	Now digital-only; Christian Musician merged with this publication. Archive to back issues		2016

Online only

Publication	Genre(s)	Rating system	Country	Website	Notes	Editor(s)/operator(s)	Reliability Discussion(s)
365 Days of Inspiring Media	Popular music	Five stars	AUS	365daysofinspiringmedia.com		Joshua Andre (editor)
All About Worship	CCM, praise & worship	Out of five stars	US	allaboutworship.com			2013
Angelic Warlord	Rock, metal	Percentage (85%)	US	www.angelicwarlord.com		Andrew Rockwell (administrator)	2024
Christian Broadcasting Network	CCM, praise & worship, rock, hip hop	Five spins	US	secure.cbn.com/entertainment/Music/index.aspx			2013
The Christian Beat	Popular music	Five point system	US	thechristianbeat.org		Jessie Clarks (lead editor)
The Christian Post	Popular music	No rating	US	christianpost.com/entertainment	Sometimes deals with non-Christian
Crosswalk.com	CCM, pop, praise & worship, rock	No rating	US	crosswalk.com/culture/music/	Also deals somewhat with non-Christian. Many article are reprints from Christianity Today or CCM Magazine - using the original sources are preferred in such cases.
The Front Row Report	Popular music	Ten points/stars	US	thefrontrowreport.com	Also deals with non-Christian.	Reggie Edwards (editor)	2013
Indie Vision Music	Popular music	Five stars	US	indievisionmusic.com		Brandon Jones (founder and site operator)	2013, 2015 (considered reliable but not notable), 2024 (questioned reliability, with no consensus)
Jam the Hype	Hip-hop, urban gospel music	8.6/10	US	jamthehype.com	Contains content formerly hosted at DaSouth.com, which is now defunct.	Mike Laxton (managing editor)	2013 (as DaSouth.com)
Jesus Freak Hideout	All	Five stars	US	jesusfreakhideout.com	Contains both staff and fan reviews. Official staff reviews use red stars, while user reviews use yellow stars; some albums, often older ones, have reviews from both readers and staff. Example. Only use the staff reviews.	John DiBiase (owner and publisher).	2010, 2011 2016 (reliability maintained)
Jesus Wired	CCM (adult contemporary, praise & worship), Gospel (contemporary, rhythm & praise, traditional), hip hop, rap, rock (alternative, folk, hardcore, metal)	Five or five stars (older) Ten or ten stars (newer)	US	jesuswired.com		Iain Moss (owner and editor)
Louder Than the Music	All	Five stars	UK	louderthanthemusic.com		Jono Davies and Dave Woods (editors)
The Metal Resource	Metal	Numeric 7/10	The Netherlands	mauce.nl	Website devoted to Christian metal; also hosts a local music festival.	Maurice "Mauce" (co-founder and publisher) and Eelco "Thrashboy" (co-founder and head editor)	2024
New Release Today (formerly New Release Tuesday)	All	Five stars	International	newreleasetoday.com	Often reprints reviews from other publications. Contains both staff and reader reviews. Only staff created content is reliable. Staff and featured reviews are labeled as such and are located first on the review list. Exercise caution with citing artist biographies, even if credited to staff, as these often are copy of press releases or interview materials.	Kevin McNeese (founder) and Paul Phillips (senior editor)	2013
The Phantom Tollbooth	Popular music	Five stars/clocks	US	tollbooth.org Archived url and archive of legacy site		Shari Lloyd (co-publisher and managing editor) and Linda LaFianza (co-publisher)	2024
Rapzilla	Hip hop	Five stars	US	rapzilla.com		Chad Horton (owner and publisher) and Justin Sarachik (editor-in-chief and site operator) Philip Rood (former owner and publisher)	2013
Sphere of Hip Hop	Hip hop	No rating	US	sphereofhiphop.com		Josh Niemyjski (site operator)	2013
Today's Christian Entertainment	Popular music	Five or five stars	US	todayschristianent.com		Jay Heilman (co-founder and site operator) Sean Perry (co-founder and general manager)
Up	Popular music	No rating	US	uptv.com	Formerly the Gospel Music Channel and GMC TV

Defunct

Defunct print

Publication	Genre(s)	Rating system	Country	Website	Archives and back issues	Reliability discussion(s)
7ball	Metal, rock	—	US	7ball.com per Wayback Machine (2000 is the last archived version before the domain was usurped)
Christian Musician	CCM, praise & worship, popular music	No rating	US	Archived url: web.archive.org/web/20160312020024/http://christianmusician.com. Merged with Worship Musician.	Archive of some back issues	2016
Christian Music Planet	Popular music	Five stars	US		Some reviews reprinted in New Release Today.
Harvest Rock Syndicate/Syndicate	Alternative rock		US			2021 with 2024 response
OnCourse	CCM, metal, praise & worship, rock	Five or five stars	US	Archive url from 2016		2013
True Tunes News	Alternative, metal, rock	—	US

Defunct online

Publication	Genre(s)	Rating system	Country	Website	Editor(s)/operator(s)	Reliability discussion(s)
Alpha Omega News	CCM, hip hop, metal, rock	Letter Grades B+/-	US	alphaomeganews.org Archived url	Ken Wiegman (editor)	2013
Alt Rock Live	Metal, rock	8/10 or	US	altrocklive.com/ (domain usurped, use the archived version	Drew Bartlett (founder)	2013
BREATHEcast	CCM, Gospel, Praise & Worship, Rock	No rating	US	breathecast.christianpost.com Archived url
ChristCore	Rock, metal	Five star	US	christcore.net/ (domain was usurped in 2021, use the archived versions of the site from 2019 and prior)	Bryce Cooley (editor)	2013
The Christian Manifesto	Popular music	Five star	US	thechristianmanifesto.com/ (the domain was usurped in 2019, use archived versions of the site from 2018 and prior)	Calvin E'Jon Moore (editor)	2013
Christian Music Review	Popular music	Five or five stars , if not on the whole or half put 4.25 or 4.75/5; older grades B+/-	US	Archive url	Daniel Edgeman (current editor), Jay Heilman (former editor)	2013
Christian Music Zine	Popular music	Five or five stars , older grades B+/-	US	Domain is usurped, use the archived url	Tyler Hess (editor)	2013
cMusicWeb.com	CCM, pop, praise and worship, rock, hip-hop, folk	No rating	US	Archived url		2016
CMSpin	Popular music	Sometimes out of ten	US	cmspin.com		2013
inReview.net	CCM, pop, praise and worship, rock, hip-hop, folk	No rating	US	inreview.net		2016 (as cMusicWeb)
New H2O	CCM, hip hop, rock	Five stars/water bottles	US	newh2o.com Archived url		2013
Today's Christian Music	CCM, praise & worship, rock	Five stars	US	todayschristianmusic.com (Domain redirects to CCM Magazine, use the archived version
The Sound Opinion	All	No rating	US	thesoundopinion.com/ (domain was usurped, use the archived version from 2019)	Lindsay Williams (site operator)	2013
Wade-O Radio	Hip hop, praise & worship	No rating	US	wadeoradio.com Archived url; some articles reprinted in Daily News, Houston Chronicle and The Wall Street Journal.	Owner and operator: DJ Wade-O	2013

Defunct print and online

Publication	Genre(s)	Rating system	Country	Website	Archives and back issues	Reliability discussion
Cornerstone	Popular music	No rating	US	Archived url	Back issues available for purchase	2013

Books

Primarily or exclusively Christian

• ^{(Available for rent at Internet Archive)}

Includes Christian artists

Contemporary Musicians is a multi-volume general reference work. It covers the modern era of music, and does not leave out Christian artists, so long as they have had a measurable impact. It is published as a hardback periodical; each volume has its own ISBN in addition to the series ISSN.

This is an indispensable general market resource for broad information on 1980s era metal bands, though it has few full biographies.

The foremost book on the New Wave of American Heavy Metal, it includes many Christian hardcore and metal acts from the mid-90's onward.

Examines the impact of Christianity and faith on rock music.

Mean Deviation focuses on progressive and experimental metal music and associated topics. It includes profiles of artists associated with Christian metal.

Self-published

Self-published sources are generally unacceptable as references on Wikipedia. An artist's social networking site, such as Facebook or Twitter, in addition to personal blogs and forum posts, should largely be avoided. If the information being added from one of these websites is truly notable enough for inclusion, a publication will likely report about it. However, the following sources are classified as reliable self-published sources, as the authors have worked for other, reliable publications. Use of them is acceptable under the following conditions: They MUST NOT be used to make statements about living persons except for information about themselves. Statements by interviewees in interviews can be used for statements about themselves.

Self-published sources also should ONLY be used if no other source for the information can be found. For more details on usage of self-published sources, see WP:SPS, WP:ABOUTSELF, and WP:BLPSPS. Only the writers mentioned in this table are considered reliable self-published sources on the listed websites.

Publication	Author	Genre(s)	Rating	Country	Website	Notes and discussion(s)
The Fire Note	Brian Q. Newcomb	Popular music (including non-Christian)	Five-scale ratings	US	thefirenote.com/author/bnewcomb/	Founder of Harvest Rock Syndicate and prolific writer at CCM Magazine; also wrote for numerous other publications, including Billboard, Paste, the St. Louis Dispatch, and the Riverfront Times -f those writings are not self-published. 2021 with 2024 response
Blacforje Magazine	Andrew Voigt	Black metal and dungeon synth	No rating	US	blacforjemagazine.com	2024. Only use content from Voigt.
CM Addict	CCM, metal, praise & worship, rock	Five or five stars	US	cmaddict.com	Only use for interviews. 2013
Jay's Musik Blog (now defunct)	Jay Wright	CCM, metal, praise & worship, rock	Out of five or five stars	US	jaysmusikblog.com	Many reviews reprinted at New Release Tuesday, those are not self-published. 2013
Jesus Musik	Sketch the Journalist	Hip hop, praise & worship	No rating	US	blog.chron.com/jesusmusik/ Defunct, use the archived url	Some articles also appear in DaSouth.com, Rapzilla, and Wade-O Radio. 2013
Notes from the Sketch Pad	Sketch the Journalist	Hip hop, praise & worship	No rating	US	sketchthejournalist.blogspot.com	Many articles also appear in the Houston Chronicle, DaSouth.com, Rapzilla, and Wade-O Radio, those are not self-published. 2013 (of Jesus Musik)
Metal for Jesus (now defunct)	Johannes Jonsson	Metal, rock	Out of five guitars	Sweden	metalforjesus.org	2010, 2010, 2012, 2012 Rationale, 2012 (includes discussion of the source), 2015 (includes discussion of the source)
The Whipping Post (now defunct)	Matt Morrow	Metal, rock, underground	Out of ten skulls	European	thewhippingpost.tripod.com	HM writer; some articles appear in similar form in HM, those are to be given preference and are not self-published. Occasionally deals with non-Christian. 2010, 2013, 2024
No Life 'til Metal	Scott Waters	Metal, some rock	No rating	US	nolifetilmetal.com	Some recent reviews appear in HM. Only use reviews written during or after 2012, which is when HM began publishing reviews by Waters. As the entries are not dated, use the Wayback Machine on Internet Archive to find if the review was posted before 2012. Anything before 2012 should not be used. 2010, 2010

Unreliable

• The Metal Onslaught [3] - Deemed unreliable in this 2024 discussion, and has extensive issues with sponsored content. It also has a history of usage in conflict of interest editing on Wikipedia.
• The Worship Community [4]
• Praise.com [5] - About us does not list staff and no staff list could be found.

Acceptable charts

United States

Publication	Information	Charts
The CCM Update	Published by CCM Magazine and originally known as MusicLine, this was the only Christian chart format until the introduction of Radio & Records charts in April 2001. The charts were updated monthly from July 1978 to September 1986, bi-weekly from September 1986 to June 1992, and weekly from June 1992 to April 15, 2002. Chart histories are generally unavailable online, but some are available in individual magazines as well as three out-of-print books: Hot Hits: Christian hit radio (Jeffery Lee Brothers) - Published in 1999; includes all the history of the Christian hit radio chart from 1978 to 1997. The physical book is incredibly hard to find. Hot Hits: AC Charts 1978-2001 (Jeffery Lee Brothers) - Published in 2003; includes all the history of the AC chart as well as all #1 hits on the CHR chart. Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music (Mark Allan Powell) - Published in 2002; includes all charting CHR songs for artists with biographies. It can be rented at the Internet Archive. The CCM Update is reliable for pre-Radio & Records charts. Because Radio & Records continued all of the charts, it is preferred to use those once the comparable chart there was created. User:Toa Nidhiki05 owns Hot Hits: AC Charts and both they and User:3family6 own The Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music and will gladly find chart numbers/artist entries for you if asked.	Adult Contemporary (1981–82; 1985–2002) Black Gospel (1981-85) Country (1995-98) Christian Hit Radio (1978–2002) Inspirational (1978–2002) Metal (1990-93) Rock (1983–2002) Southern Gospel (1978-86)
Radio & Records	R&R began covering Christian charts in 2001. R&R Christian charts were published weekly from April 27, 2001 until June 2009, when the magazine was shuttered and Billboard took over all formats. R&R charts are reliable and a good accompaniment for the Billboard charts, especially for the Christian CHR, INSPO, and Christian Rock formats, which Billboard did not cover for most of when Radio & Records was active.	Christian CHR (April 27, 2001 – June 5, 2009) Christian Rock (April 27, 2001 – June 5, 2009) Christian AC (May 25, 2001 – June 2009) INSPO (June 7, 2002 – June 2009) Christian AC Indicator (May 7, 2004 – June 5, 2009)
Billboard	Billboard began covering CCM singles with the creation of the Christian Songs and Hot Christian AC charts on June 21, 2003. After the shuttering of R&R in 2009, Billboard took over publication of the Christian CHR, INSPO (Christian Soft AC), and Christian Rock charts. As of 2022, the legacy R&R charts have all been shuttered. Chart histories are available in database form at Billboard.com and Billboard.biz of most magazine issues up until 2021. World Radio History has archives through 2011, as does Google Books. The smaller Billboard charts (Christian AC, Christian AC Indicator, CHR, Soft AC, and Christian Rock) were only available on Billboard.biz, which has a paywall, but individual song/album results can be found through manual search. Beginning November 28, 2013, the Christian Songs chart began incorporating digital downloads and streaming, as well as radio play from secular stations if a song on the chart receives mainstream play. The old airplay-only format continues on the Christian Airplay chart, and both charts have identical archives going back to June 21, 2003.	Active Christian Albums (March 29, 1980 – present) Christian Songs (June 21, 2003 – present) Christian AC Airplay (June 21, 2003 – present) Christian Digital Song Sales (January 23, 2010 – present) Christian Airplay (December 7, 2013 – present) Christian Streaming Songs (December 7, 2013 – present) Discontinued Christian AC Indicator (September 19, 2009 – 2022) Christian Hot AC/CHR (September 19, 2009 – 2022) Christian Rock (September 19, 2009 – December 22, 2018) Christian Soft AC (September 19, 2009 – February 3, 2018)

International

• Australia
  • The Rock Across Australia (TRAA)

• United Kingdom
  • Cross Rhythms
  • Official Christian & Gospel Albums Chart

See also

• Wikipedia:WikiProject Albums/Sources
• Wikipedia:WikiProject Christian music/Sources (archive) - old version of this page, contains rationale for numerous sources listed.